Transport-carriage for portable guns.



0: BEHNKE.

TRANSPORT CARRIAGE FOB, PORTABLE GUNS.

APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 23.1908.

' Patented Aug. 24, 1909.

V i if M i "(M i UNITED STATES PATENT onion.

OTTO BEHNKE, 0F ESSEN-ON-THE-RUHR, GERMANY, ASSIGNOR TO FRIED. KRUPPAKTIENGE- SELLSGHAFT, OF ESSEN-ON-THE-RUHR, GERMANY.

TRANSPORT-CARRIAGE FOR PORTABLE GUNS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OTTO BEHNKE, a subject of the Emperor of Germany,and a resident of Essen-on-the-Ruhr, Germany, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Transport-Carriages for Portable Guns, ofwhich the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to the type of transport carriages forportable guns with barrel-recoil which has a slide track correspondingwith the slide track of the service carriage of the gun and in which, bylifting the trail of the gun-mount, feet or supports provided on theslide track can be brought into engagement with seats provided on thetrail. A transport carriage of this type is, for instance, shown in theU. S. Patent No. 723,684 of March 2 1, 1903.

The object of the invention is to provide a transport carriage of theaforesaid type which is of very simple construction, is easilymanipulated, has small weight and yet makes it possible to exactly andimmovably couple the transport carriage to the service carriage.

One embodiment of the imention is shown in the accompanying drawings, byway of example.

Figure 1 is a side View of the transport carriage and the correspondinggun; some parts of the transport carriage being shown in section and thetransport carriage and the gun being shown in the position which theyassume just prior to being coupled together; Fig. 2 is a viewcorresponding to Fig. 1 and shows the parts when the transport carriageis coupled to the gun, and Fig. 8 is a section on line 33, Fig. 2.

The transport carriage consists of a fore carriage A and a rear carriageboth having two wheels. The rear carriage is composed ofthe wheel-axle bthe wheels 72 and the perch B consisting of two parallel cheeks. Nearits forward end the perch B is provided with an eye bearing 6 whichengages with a vertical king-bolt a on the fore carriage A. Due to thisconnection the rear carriage can carry out both a horizontal and avertical swinging movement and also a tilting movement relatively to thefore carriage, in a manner similar to that of a mount relatively to thelimber. In order to relieve the bolt (6 and the bearing Z) of verticalSpecification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 23, 1908.

Serial N0. 2439,99 1.

pressure the fore carriage A is provided with rails a on which the perchB can rest. A hoisting device is arranged on the perch Patented Aug. 24,1909.

near the bearing 6 and serves to raise the gun-trail G. 'The chain D ofthe hoisting device is carried over a sprocket-wheel E. The shaft 6 ofthe wheel E is journaled in the cheeks of the perch and can be rotatedby means of a crank 6 The free end of the chain D is provided with ahook cl for which an eye 0 is provided on the gun-trail.

The upper edges of the cheeks of the perch B are provided with rails Fwhich serve to hold the gun barrel during transport. These rails are ofa shape that corresponds to the shape of the rails on the slide trackcarrier H of the gun and, after the gun barrel has been disconnectedfrom the recoil-brake and the recuperator of the gun, the barrel can bedrawn over on the rails of the transport carriage.

In the proximity of the hoisting device short feet G are jointed to thecheeks of the perch. The gun-trail C is provided with seats or rests cfor the free ends of the feet. Between the rests and the axle 0 of thegun the trail is provided with rests 0 which serve to receive the axleI) when the guntrail 0 is lifted while being under the transportcarriage.

WVhen engagement is effected between the axle b and the rests 0 it isessential that the longitudinal axis of the gun-trail becomes locatedexactly vertically under the longitudinal axis of the perch B and tothat end the axle b is provided with two projections o (Fig. 3) whichare located symmetrically relatively to the longitudinal axis of theperch and against which the opposing side walls of the rests 0 can becaused to abut. When engagement has been effected between the axle b andthe rests 0 the projections of prevent lateral displacement of theslidetrack F relatively to the gun-trail.

When the gun barrel C assumes the position shown in full lines in Fig. 1relatively to the perch B the rests c and c are located such a distancefrom the axle b and the feet G that, when the gun-trail is raised,engagement will first take place between the axle b and the rests 0(compare the position of the trail of the gun-carriage indicated in Fig.1 by dot and dash lines). When the trail is further raised to also'bringthe feet G in engagement with their rests 0 the y be lifted off theground.

When both the axle and the feet G engage with the corresponding rests onthe gun-trail the slidetrack F of the perch B has such a positionrelatively to the service carriage that it forms a rectilinear extensionof the slide-track of the track-carrier H of the gun, the latter trackhaving been brought into a predetermined position by means of theelevating mechanism.

When it is desired to transfer the gunbarrel to the transport carriagethe latter is first pushed with the rear carriage for ward over thegun-trail until the axle b and the feet G are located exactly over therests 0 and 0 Due care must be taken that the longitudinal axis of theperch B is then located as exactly as possible in vertical alinementwith the longitudinal axis of the service carriage. After the hook d ofthe chain D has been moved down and inserted in the eye 0 of thegun-trail (Fig. 1) the chain D is then wound up to elevate the trail tosuch an extent that the rests 0 engage with the axle 6 While this isbeing done care must be taken that the opposing side walls of the rests0 come to lie against the projections o on the axle b (Fig. 8). Ifnecessary the correct engagement of the rests 0 with the axle 6 must beeffected by swinging or shifting the transport carriage or the servicecarriage. When the raising of the gun-trail C is continued by thefurther winding up of the chain D a vertical swinging movement isimparted to the rear carriage relatively to the fore carriage, and theWheels of the rear carriage move off the ground. When the feet G comeinto engagement with the rests 0 the service carriage is firmly coupledto the transport carriage (Fig. 2).

If, by reason of uneven terrain, the axle of the transport carriage isinclined to the axle c of the service carriage the rests 0 will notenter simultaneously into engagement with the axle b when the gun-trailis raised. Engagement will then first take place between only one of therests c and the axle Z2 and when the gun-trail is further raised atilting movement will be imparted to the rear carriage until the otherrest 0 comes into engagement with the axle When the parts assume theposition shown in Fig. 2 the slide-track carrier H of the gun is swungby means of the elevating mechanism of the gun to such an extent thatits slide-track forms a rectilinear extension of the slide-track F ofthe transport carriage. The gun-barrel is thereupon disconnected fromthe recoil-brake and the recuperator and by means of a tackle or thelike the barrel is drawn over on the slide-track of the transportcarriage to such an extent that the horn i Q) of the gun-barrel abutswheels 5 of the rear carriage will therefore gfl S t s se Wall of theperch B (see the position of the gun-barrel shown in dotted lines inFig. 2). The gun-barrel is secured in this position by means of akeybolt K which is inserted through the cheeks of the perch. The crank eof the hoisting device is thereupon turned in the opposite direction tolower the gun-trail and the rear carriage of the transport carriage. Thesteps of the proceeding as described in connection with the raising ofthe gun-trail then take place in reversed order. After the hook (Z isdisengaged from the eye 0 and the chain is wound up the transportcarriage is ready for travel.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired to besecured by Letters Patent is:

1. The combination with a service carriage for portable guns; of atransport carriage for the same provided with a relatively fixed slidetrack; means carried by the gun trail for engaging one axle of thetransport carriage; and a hoisting device mounted on the transportcarriage for lifting the rear end of the gun trail.

2. A transport carriage for portable guns provided with a slide trackcarried by a relatively fixed part of the carriage, means interactingbetween the carriageand the rear of the gun trail for raising thegun-trail; and further means interacting between the gun-trail and oneend of the service carriage to bring the slide track into position toremove the gun-barrel rearwardly from its service carriage.

3. A transport carriage for portable guns comprising a fore carriage, arear carriage movable relatively to the fore carriage and provided witha relatively fixed slide track, means interacting between the gun-trailand said rear carriage whereby the rear carriage may be elevated tobring the slide track into position to remove the gun-barrel rearwardlyfrom its service carriage, and hoisting means carried by said transportcarriage, said hoisting means being adapted to raise the end of thegun-trail.

4. A transport carriage for portable guns provided with trails, saidcarriage comprising a fore carriage, a rear carriage movably connectedat one end to the fore carriage and having a fixed perch provided with aslide track, means for raising the trail of the gun, and means operatedby said trail for raising the other end of the rear carriage from theground to bring the slide track into position to receive the gun barrelfrom its service carriage.

5. The combination with the service carriage having a trail and providedwith a slide track for the gun barrel, of a transport carriage having arelatively fixed slide track,

{means for raising the trail, and 'means mounted on the trail forengaging the rear axle of said carriage whereby the raising of the trailcauses the transport carriage to be elevated at one end to bring itsslide track into position to receive the gun barrel from the slide trackof the service carriage.

6. The combination with the service carriage having a trail and providedwith a slide track for the gun barrel, of a transport carriagecomprising relatively movable carriages and having a relatively fixedslide track on one of said carriages, means for raising the trail,cooperating means on one of the relatively movable carriages and thetrail whereby the raising of the trail causes the transport carriage tobe elevated at one end to bring its slide track into position to receivethe gun barrel from the slide track of the service carriage, and meansfor centering the trail relatively to the transport carriage.

7. The combination with the service carriage having a trail and providedwith a slide track for the gun barrel, of a transport carriagecomprising a fore carriage and a rear carriage movably connected at oneend to the fore carriage and having a wheel axle and a slide track atits other end, means on the rear carriage for raising the trail, andmeans on the trail adapted to engage the axle of the rear carriage toelevate the free end of the rear carriage when the trail is raised andto bring the slide track of the rear carriage into position to receivethe gun barrel from the slide track of the service carriage.

8. The combination with the service carriage having a trail and providedwith a slide track for the gun barrel, of a transport carriagecomprising a fore carriage and a rear carriage movably connected at oneend to the fore carriage and having its free end provided with the wheelaxle and a relatively fixed slide track, means on the rear carriage forelevating the trail, rests on the trail adapted to engage the axle ofthe rear carriage when the trail is elevated to cause the free end ofthe rear carriage to be raised off the ground to permit its slide trackto receive the gun barrel from the slide track of the service carriage,and projections on the wheel axle adapted to engage the rests to centerthe trail relatively to the rear carriage.

The foregoing specification signed at Dusseldorf, Germany, thistwenty-fifth day of May, 1908.

OTTO BEHNKE. In presence of PETER LIEBER, VVILHELM FLAsoHE.

